Friday, May 20, 2016

Zollinger Adventures: Liberty Trail Edition of the Boston Chronicles

So, after spending the day in Newport, we made our way to Boston and did the Freedom Trail. There literally is a line of bricks snaking through the city showing you where all the cool historical stuff is located.

Boston Common, the oldest public park in America. They used to hang witches here. (They don't do that anymore)

Park Street Church. Most of the old churches we saw still have active congregations, which I think is cool.

I didn't expect this, but one of my favorite things on the trail was all the old cemeteries. All the monuments in these cemeteries were from the 1600s and 1700s. This is Granary Burying Ground, where John Hancock, Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and the victims of the Boston Massacre are buried. Other graves we saw were John Winthrop, the Mather family, and Mary Chilton...the first woman off the MAYFLOWER. Yeah. The Mayflower.

Look at this beautiful tree.

Boston Massacre memorial.

Paul Revere's family pew. No big deal.

Old State House, where the Declaration was first read in Boston.

Paul Revere's house. I love how these historical places are just tucked in among more modern buildings. It gives East Coast cities a special character that you just don't see as often in the West. This is where Paul Revere started out when he saw the two lanterns. You know, The British are coming! The British are coming! I feel like a lot of sites in Boston claimed to be where Paul Revere rode, though...so who knows.

Paul Revere statue by the Old North Church.

Taking a little break. Look at this cute guy.

When you smile so hard your paci falls out.

Look at these adorable apartments just tucked in an alcove between the Paul Revere monument and Old North Church. What must it be like to live here? Fun, I'm guessing (and expensive).

Feeling artistic-y.

The USS Constitution, or Old Ironsides. It's the oldest warship still in commission, which is cool. Active duty Navy guys take you on and let you tour it. They still take this baby out to sail every once in while! Cool stuff.

Brynn and me, swabbing the deck.

We took a little boat through Boston Harbor so we wouldn't have to walk the whole trail back to the subway station.

That night we went to Fenway Park and watched a Red Sox game. Greg is a Yankees fan, so this was Enemy Territory. But, you know, iconic park and everything. I'm pretty sure this was Greg's favorite thing we did all day, even though the Red Sox killed the Astros.

I'm pretty sure this is Greg's favorite picture we took all day, too, so I'll save it for last. Big Papi, striking out. It looks like we had amazing seats. We had good seats, but mostly we were just messing around with the zoom lens on the camera. Have I mentioned how much I love that thing?